Machine for cutting fabrics to predetermined lengths



F. KASCHEWSKL MACHINE FOR CUTTING FABRICS T0 PREDETERMINED LENGTHS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1919.

Patented May 10,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- IFJKASCHE'WSKL- MAOHINE FOR CUTTING FABRICS TO PREDETERMINED LENGTHS.

APPLICATION FIL ED SEPT. 24, 1919.

Paten't'ed May '10, 1921.

3 SHEETS SHE'ET 2. A

F. KAS CHEWSKI.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING FABRICS T0 PREDETERMINED LENGTHS.

APPLICATION FILED SENT-24, 1919- I Patented May II), 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- nasg UNITED STATES PATENT cri ics.

FREDERICK KASCHEWSKI, 0F DAVENPORT, IOWA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1921.

Application filed September 24, 1919. Serial No. 326,062.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK KAscHEw- SKI, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cutting Fabrics to Predetermined Lengths, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Inthe tailoring trade there is occasion to use many small narrow strips of cloth for belt-loops and other purposes which, for economy as well as appearance and utility, it is desirable to have of uniform length. It is the object of my invention to provide an improved machine that will operate upon long narrow strips of cloth or other material and feed the same forward intermittently, and, between the feeding operations, sever from the strip the desired short pieces, the strip being firmly clamped and held against buckling or turning during the severing operations,-the oscillatory feed member upon which the strip rests being adapted to be adjusted so as to regulate the extent of its movement and thereby determine paper. What I claim as new and desire to cover by this application is set forth in the claims; a

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine in which my invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 55- of Fig. 3; and s Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5. 2

Referring to the several figures of the drawings,l0 indicates a base upon whlch the supporting frame of the machine is secured, such frame in the construction shown comprising two side wallsll, 'a front wall 12 and a top wall 13, the said several walls being bolted or otherwise suitably secured together, and in the top wall 13 is a central longitudinal opening 14: to allow slight projection therethrough of the segmental feed device hereinafter described, the front Wall being also provided with an opening, indicated by 15, through which such feed device projects. 16 indicates the main drive shaft of the machine which is suitably journaled in bearings in the side walls 11, said shaft having secured upon a projecting end thereof, in the construction shown, a pulley 17 around which passes a belt 18 that leads to and is driven from any suitable source of power. 19 indicates a pinion made fast to the drive-shaft 16, and in mesh with a gear 20 that is fast upon a counter-shaft 21 that is journaled in one of the side walls 11 and also in a vertical bracket 22 rising from and affixed to the base 10, said gear 20 being secured upon the shorter end of the counter-shaft 21 that projects beyond the bracket 22. The face of this gear 20 is flush with the end of the counter-shaft 21 so as not to interfere with the rotation of a link that is pivotally connected with the face of the gear, as shown in Fig. 5. 23 indicates the segmental feed device hereinbefore referred to, which is fixedly secured by means of a wide central arm24 uponthe central portion of a rock-shaft 25 that is journaledin the side members of the frame 11. As shown, and as hereinbefore stated, the curved upper surface projects slightly through the opening 14 in the top plate of the frame and is movable backward and forward through the opening 15 in the front wall of the machine. The shaft 25 and the segment 23 carried thereby are rocked or oscillated through a link26, one end of which is journaled upon a wrist pin 26 that projects from the outer face of the gear 20 and at its other end is adjustably secured to an arm 27 made fast to the rockshaft 25. As indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, the arm 27 is provided with a longitudinal slot 28 into which projects a laterally-extending stud 29 on the link 26, and by means of a nut screwed upon such stud the end of the link can be secured at any desired position along the length of the arm 27, and, according to the position of the stud in the slot, will depend the amount of rocking given to the shaft 25, and consequently the extent of oscillation of the segmental feed member 23, as will be understood. As shown in Fig. 2, the front plate 12 is cutaway to leave anopening28 to allow the free end of the slotted arm 27 to project therethrough. Asshown,.the face of the feed member 23 is toothed or roughened and I prefer to so make it in order that it may better engage and carry forward, as hereinafter described, the material v T with which it engages.

- The material to be acted upon and cut into pieces of predetermined length, as hereinafter'described, will pass over the top of the *machine and will ordinarily be drawn from indicates a pressure roller adapted to cooperate with the segmental feed member 23 in forwarding the material a to the cutting mechanism hereinafter describedf' The roller 32 is'mounted ona short shaft 33 that has its ends supported inthe lower forward portion of a rocking frame 34, said frame being pivotally mounted in rear of the roller-shaft 3'3,,i'n the construction shown the pivotal mounting of the frame 34 being by means of a eylindrical'rod 35 extending loosely through the sides of theframe 34 and secured in upturned flanges 86 at the. side marginal portions of'the top plate 13. The frame 34extends in rear of the rod 35 upon which it is pivoted, and as best shownvin Fig. 3. has lateral extensions37 that extend close to the inner walls of the flanges36 and thereby prevent any lateral movement of the frame 34 on its pivot 35. The forward end of the roller-carrying frame is normally held down so as to force the roller 32 carried thereby into contact withfthe strip of material that. is fed forward between such roller and the face of'the segmental feed member 23, such position being compelled by the pull exerted by two coiled springs 38 (see Figs. 2 and 5), which springs, at their lower ends, are fixedly secured to the two side walls 11,.respectively, and at their up per ends are attached to the projecting ends of a rod 39'thatextends across the top of-the machine and is secured in theiforward end portion ofthe frame 3.4 over the 1 said roller 32. V

rial duringithe time'that the cutting opera-' tion takesplace, and also to hold it during the return tc operative position of the seg- 7 40 indicates a ressing and holding plate adap'tedto be rocl its forward edge down into firm contact with thestrip .of material to hold such mate.-

red intermittently to bring mental feed member 23, and, for better engaging the material, the forward end of the plate is slightly turned down as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, to 'form an engaging lip, and

the edge of the lip preferably will be toothed or serrated. This plate 40, in the construc tion shown, is riveted to a cross-bar 41, the end portions of which are made cylindrical to provide journals 42 that have bearings in brackets 43, which, like the members 36, may be upturned marginal portions of the top wall 13. 44' indicates an arm, which, as shown in Fig. 3, may well be made integral with the cross-bar 41, which bar is located near one end of such cross-bar and extends rearwardly therefrom, the outer end of such arm having a laterally turned end portion that projects looselyin'to a notch 46 (see Fig. 6) cut in the forward'edge of a vertical bar 47 which lies alongsideof the inner face of one of the side walls 11 with its upper end below the adjacent projecting end portion of the rod 39 so that when such bar 47 is moved upward it will contact such rod39 and cause a swinging of the frame 34011- its pivot 35. The effect off'suc'h swinging of the frame is 'two-fold-'that is, itcauses a raising of the pressure'roller'32 out'of contact with the stripof material being operated upon and atthe same time, by reason of the engagementof the turned-end 45 of the arm 44 with the notch 46 in the forward edge of the bar 47, the'plate 40 will be rocked on its pivot 42 so asto force down the forward portion of such plate and bring u the turned marginal lip thereof into firm contact with'th e material. "The "bar 47 is normally held in retracted or lowered posi tion by a coiled spring 48 (see Fig. 6) secured to it at oneend, and at its other end to the inner face of the adjacent side wall member 11, and thebar is maintained in "vertical "position by means of a guide bracket 49 bolted or otherwise secured to the inner face of such side wallll.

- The means for intermittently forcing the bar 47 upward against the action offthe spring 48 for accomplishing the simultaneous rocking of the roller-carrying frame, '34 and the plate 40, as just described,jcom'- prises a cam 50 securely afiixedito the 601111- ter-shaft 21 and adapted upon the rotation I of such shaft'to contact with the-lower edge of a member 51'rigidly connected with the lower end of the bar 47 andstanding at an angle thereto.

Referring now to'the means employed for severing pieces from the strip of material being operated upon, 52 indicates a platelo- 'cated against the front wall 12 'of the machine, and adapted to be.reciprocatedvertically'in guides 53 secured at opposite sides of said front wall In its iipp'erportion it is provided with alarge opening 54 that-lies opposite the opening 15 in the front wall,

I to

but is considerably wider, of course, than such opening 15, which is necessary owing to the movable character of the plate 52. Extending down from the large opening 54:, and centrally of the plate 52, is a slot 55 whichris necessary to permit of the projection of a portion of the arm member 2 1 of the segmental feed device and the wide web on the under face of the segment, with which web the arm member merges, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The plate is also provided with another opening 56 which is in register with a longer opening or slot 57 in the front wall 12, such openings being provided to accommodate the end of a device that operates the plate 52, as hereinafter described. The plate is normally held in its extreme upward position by spring pressure-two coiled springs 58 being provided fors-o holding the plate, the lower endof each spring being connected with the plate and their upper ends being connected withthe fixed front wall 12. Located in the upper part of the large opening 5 1 is a knife blade 59, the rear face of which is flush with the rear face of the plate 52 and having its rear lower edge sharpened, such sharpened lower edge being preferably slightly inclined, as indicated in Fig. 2, so as to impart a shearing cut when the plate 52 is drawn down against the material passing through the machine. The knife blade in the construction shown is rigid or otherwise firmly secured to a cross-bar 60, which is shown as remo-vably secured in place by screws 61 that engage the plate 52. Cooperating with the knife blade on the movable plate is a fixed blade 62 lying upon the top wall of the machine and held pressed closely against the inner face of the front wall. 12 by screws or bolts 63 that engage screw-threaded openings in the vertical members of two small brackets 64.-64: that are afiixed to the top wall of the machine. The plate carrying the knife bar 59 is reciprocated in its guides 53 by means of a lever 65 that is pivoted at 66 to a heavy bracket 67, which, in the construction shown, is afiixed to the front wall of the machine. The forward end of this lever passes through the long slot 57 in the front wall and through the opening 56 that registers with the slot 57, and its rear end lies in the path of a cam 68 that is secured to the countershaft 21, whereby, upon the rotation of such countershaft thecam will intermittently contact the lower edge of the lever and thus force its outer end downward to actuate the knife carrying plate. On the main drive shaft 16 is provided a fixed projection 69, which is also in the same plane as the lever 65, and which will strike against the upper edge of such lever to cause it to turn on its p-ivot'when it fails to be properly so turned under the action'of the springs 53 and after the cam 68 has ceased to function.

Such

failure of the inner end of the lever 65 to drop after the cam has passed occurs occasionally, due tothe friction caused by cutting through very heavy material, but when the parts do stick fromthat cause orany other the action of the projection 69 against the upper edge of the lever will immediately obviate the trouble.

In operation, with the parts in position as shown inFig. 1 and with a strip of material a that is to be severed into short lengths passed through the guide 31 and between the pressure roller 32 and the curved face of the segment 23, power will be applied to drive the shaft 16 in a direction to cause the stripengaging segment to swing toward the front of the machine. The turning of such shaft will, through the link 26, which is journaled to the pin 26 on the large gear20 and connected at its, other end to the arm 27, rock the shaft 25in a direction to swing the segment 23 forward. Inasmuch as the strip of material is heldagainst the face of theseg ment by the roller 32 such strip will be moved forward with the movement of the segment and will pass between the pressing andholding plate 40 and the fixed blade 62, and out over such blade through the large opening 54: in theplate 52. The degree of movement outward of the segmental feed member 23 will be regulated, as before stated, by the position to which the link is adjusted in the slot 28 of the arm 27 and just as the outward movement of the segment has been reached and before it starts to swing backward the cam 50 will contact the lower edge ofthe member 51 carried by the vertical bar 1? and force such bar quickly upward, the upper end of such bar striking the rod 39 and instantly causing the simultaneous raising of the roller 32 and the swinging down of the forward edge of thepressing and holding plate 40 in the manner hereinbefore" described. Almost simultaneously with this last stated operation the'oam 68 strikes against the lower edge of the lever 65 and turns it on its pivot 66 to cause a downward pull of the knife carrying blade '52 against the action of the coiled springs58. Thus it will be seen that during the cutting operation the material will be held' firmly by the plate 40 immediately back of the line of cut and that the roller 32 is raised clear of the material. This raising of the roller is important because. almost immediately upon the start of the cutting operation the segmental member 23 will be started on its return swing and if the roller were down there might be pressure enough between it and the face of the segment to cause the material to be pulled out from under the holding edge of the pressing plate 4.0. The cam50, therefore, is of such length as to hold the bar 47 raised until the segmental member 23 has been substantially wholly returned to its starting position. At such time the-cam 50 will cease tol function with respect to the member 51, and thereupon the bar 47 will drop, withythe result of again dropping the roller against the matebinds or sticks so as not to immediately move upward under the influence ofthe springs 58 the inner end of the operating lever 65 will be given a blow by the projection 69 on the shaft 16, which will insure'the blade being properly started upward.

By my invention I provide a simple and compact machine which will rapidly and accurately sever from a long strip short pieces of predetermined length, and which can be very quicklyadjusted to regulate the length of such severed pieces, and so far as I am aware I am the first in the artto provide afeed member for the material that, after feeding the "material forward a predetermined distance has such material released fromcontact withjit and-is thereafter moved back :to its "original position for again engaging and moving such material, and particularly is it true, so far as I am informed, that I'amthe first to make use of an oscillating segmental feed "member for this purpose, and my claims are to be construed accordingly. i What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of an oscillatoryfeed device for intermittently forwarding a strip I of material, means for moving said feed device backward and forward in the same path, meansfor operating upon said strip, a roller holding said strip pressed'against said feed device during the forwarding movements, and means for moving said roller away fromthe :strip when said strip is not being moved. 7

2; The combination of an oscillatory feed device for intermittently. forwarding a 7 means comprising a vertically-movablefban V strip of material, means for moving said feed device backward and forward in'the same path, means for operating upon said strip, a roller holding said strip pressed against said feed device during :the' forwarding movements, and means for moving said roller away from the strip when said strip is not being moved, said last-named 3i The combinationof an oscillatory feed device having a "convex surface which engages the'under surface of' a strip of ma terial to move it forward intermittently, means for rocking said feed device both forward and backward in the same path,

means for operating upon the strip at the conclusion of each forward movement thereof, a roller holding suchstrip pressed against said feed device during the forwarding movements, and means for moving said roller away from the strip-during the backward or return movement of the oscillatory feed device. r 7

'4. The combination of an oscillatory feed device movable bothbackward and forward in the same path and having a convex surface which engages the under surface of a, strip of materlal to move it forward 1nter Inittently, means for operating upon the strip at the conclusion of each forward movement thereof, a pivoted frame, a roller revolubly mounted in said frame and normally held in position to press the strip against the said convex'surface, and means for turning said frame to carry said roller" away from the strip duringthe backward or return movement of the oscillatory device. i

5. The combination of a feed device for intermittently moving a strip of material, means for moving said feed device forward and back, a pressure roller opposite said feed device for holding the said strip againstthe feed device during the movement of such device in one direction, a clamping member for engaging and holding the strip at the conclusion of each intermittent movement thereof, and means for simultaneously forcing the roller away from the strip and the clamping member against the strip.

6. The combination of an oscillatoryfeed device; having a convex surface which en- 7 gages the under surface of a strip of material to move it forward vwhen the feed device is rocked in one direction, means for rocking said feed device, a roller, a clamp- ,ing member, means for holding the roller pressed against the strip asthe feed device moves in one direction, means for holding said clamping member away from the strip while such strip is operatively engaged by theroller, and means for causing the roller to move away from the strip and the clamping device :to engage the strip when the feed device is rocked in therrever se direction,-

7. The combination of'an os'cillatoryfeed device having a convex surface'which engages the under sideof a strip of material to move it forward whenthe feed device is rocked in one direction, means forrocking said feed device, a roller movableto and from the strip. of material and cooperating with said feed. device to move the strip, a

pivoted clamping member, and means for substantially simultaneously moving said roller away from the strip and turning said clamping member toward said strip upon the completion of the movement in one direction of said oscillatory feed device.

8. The combination of an oscillatory feed device having a convex surface which engages the under side of a strip of material to move it forward when the feed device is rocked in one direction, means for rocking said feed device, a roller movable to and from the strip of material and cooperating with said feed device to move the strip, a pivoted clamping member, and means for substantially simultaneously moving said roller away from the strip and turning said clamping member toward said strip upon the completion of the movement in one direction of said oscillatory feed device, said last-named means holding said roller and clamping member in such last-stated positions during the the backward or return movement of the oscillatory feed device.

9. lhe combination of an oscillatory feed device having a convex surface which engages the under side of a' strip of material to move it forward when the feed device is rocked in one direction, means for rocking said feed device, a roller movable to and from the strip of material and cooperating with said feed device to move the strip, a pivoted clamping member, and means for substantially simultaneously moving said roller away from the strip and turning said clamping member toward said strip upon the completion of the movement in one direction of said oscillatory feed device, said last-named means comprising a sliding bar with which said clamping member is loosely connected at one side of its pivot, said bar being adapted to move said roller by contact with a member connected with the roller.

10. The combination of an oscillatory feed device having a convex surface which engages the under side of a strip of material to move such strip forward when the feed device is rocked in one direction, means for rocking said feed device, a pivoted frame, a roller rotatably mounted in said frame and adapted to cooperate with said feed device to move the strip, a pivoted clamping member, and means for substantially simultaneously turning said frame to move the roller carried thereby away from the strip of material and turning said clamping member toward said strip upon the completion of the movement in one direction of said oscillatory member, said lastsnamed means comprising a sliding bar with which said clamping member is loosely connected at one side of its pivot, and said bar being adapted to turn said roller-carrying frame by contact with said frame.

11. A machine for cutting pieces from strips of material, comprising in combination a reciprocating lniife-carrying member, a pivoted lever operatively connected with said member, a rotating shaft, a cam on said shaft for contacting said lever to turn it to cause a: movement of the knife-carrying member inone direction, a second shaft rotatable in the opposite direction from said first-named shaft, and a device on said second-named shaft for contacting said lever to compel a reverse movement of the lever and knife-carrying member.

FREDERICK KASGHEWSKI. 

